 Question: How do I get my horse to stop on her back legs? Answer: A good halt is one indication of a horses training level. To develop a square halt, the forehand must be light in order for the haunches to engage and drive into the ground. Whether from the walk, jog, or lope, the horse must respond to the riders weight, leg, and rein aids in order to achieve a proper halt. Here are a few exercises in order to teach the horse to halt: 1. Trot your horse across the arena about 10 strides and halt. Before you halt, deepen your seat, keep your legs resting on the horses side. When you halt, give a firm "whoa", sit down deeply, and close your hands on your reins (this prevents the horse from fumbling forward). Do a quarter turn on the haunches (open inside rein, neck neck rein and outside leg) and trot off 10 steps. Repeat the whoa sequence, turn another quarter turn and trot. The horse should start responding and anticipating the halt because it will know you plan on turning and trotting off. The horse will become more and more efficient at stopping, and listen to your deepening seat as a pre-cue. 2. Another trot-halt exercise is to add backing between transitions. Trot the horse 10 strides, halt, and back. Halt in the same defined sequence as above and then add the rein back (2 direct reins, intermittent squeezing or slight bumping with your lower leg for impulsion, as the horse backs, give with your hands). After the halt, trot off another 10 strides, halt and back. This exercise will also help the horse learn to listen to your aids and respond faster. Both of these exercises should be started at the trot and only moved to the lope when the horse is responding correctly. 3. In reining, the horse is taught to halt by using a wall. Trot or lope the horse in an area with four walls or enclosed fencing. When you plan to halt, trot or lope the horse into the wall (so you are not parallel with the wall but directly facing it). Add your halt sequence when you reach the wall. The horse will halt because the wall is infront of it. Your halt aids will accentuate the need to halt. After the halt, do a turn on the haunches toward the wall and trot or lope off the other way. Try the halt in the new direction, making sure the horse is halted into the wall. As the horse becomes better at this exercise, you can switch between halting parallel with the wall and halting into it. With the right amount of energy, the horses turn on the hauches will become rollback. The horse will anticipate a halt and be ready for your next halt-rollback sequence. Not only will your horse learn to halt properly, but it will develop smooth halt to trot or halt to lope transitions. All of the above exercises should be started in a snaffle bit, ridden with 2 hands (western or english). Only after the horse is fluent in the exercises should the horse be introducted to a curb bit. Remember that riding with a steady seat and soft hands will encourage the horse to relax through these difficult exercises and help develop trust between you and your horse. Kaleigh Arbuckle
 |